Our country ranks 35th among 132 countries
Bulgaria moved up two places in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) international innovation rankings and ranks 35th out of 132 countries, according to the Global Competitiveness Index 2022. This was announced by Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Yanko Topalov to the participants of the seminar ‘Innovation and Sustainability in Diplomacy’.
Deputy Minister Topalov shared the experience of the Ministry of Economy and Industry in promoting, supporting and creating conditions for innovation and sustainable development in our country. He also presented the five thematic areas, towards the accelerated development of which Bulgaria is focusing its efforts — ‘Information and Communication Technologies’, ‘Mechatronics and Microelectronics’, ‘Industry for Healthy Living’, ‘Bioeconomy and Biotechnologies’, ‘New Technologies in Creative and Recreational Industries’, ‘Clean Technologies’, ‘Circular and Low Carbon Economy’. These are structured in the Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation on the basis of competitive advantage and capacity for smart specialisation.
‘It is crucial for Bulgaria to continue to develop its innovation potential and turn it into marketable products that create real advantages for enterprises and consumers, to intensify scientific and technical cooperation and to open its scientific and innovation space to the countries with which it actively cooperates and with friendly countries,’ Deputy Minister Topalov said. He pointed to the intensification of Bulgarian—Emirati relations as an example. ‘The trend of growth in bilateral trade continues — by 25% or a total of USD 143.1 million for the first 10 months of 2022. Bulgarian exports account for about 2/3 of the trade, a significant share of which are products of mechanical engineering, electrical equipment and consumables for medicine,’ said Yanko Topalov.
The seminar is organized by the University of Library and Information Science and Technology (UniBIT), the Embassy of the UAE and the Board for Friendship and Cooperation between the Republic of Bulgaria and the United Arab Emirates. The Ambassador of the UAE in Bulgaria H.E. Sultan Alawaimi, Prof. Doctor of Economic Science Stoyan Denchev, Chairman of the Board for Friendship and Cooperation between the Republic of Bulgaria and the United Arab Emirates, Tanya Mihaylova, Director of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute, Dilyana Slavova, Foreign Policy Adviser to the President of the Republic of Bulgaria and others.